Transcript of the above video: 

As the title of this video suggests, we are discussing Wills here in Thailand. There are various ways of legally formalizing a Will in Thailand. One thing that I occasionally get emails on - and there must have been somebody talking about this in a forum or something somewhere - because I have gotten a number of emails on so-called Holographic Wills. What are they? Well, it's basically your handwritten Will. You can do a handwritten Will and there may be with respect to Thailand and other jurisdictions, there may be less formalities associated with witnessing such an instrument, but that said, as we have discussed in other videos, Holographic Wills may or may not be the best way of doing things. Honestly, I view the Holographic Will rules, the sort of various provisions out there that may allow for Holographic Wills, as being something that was designed to deal with things in a pinch if you will. What are you talking about? 

Well, somebody knows of their imminent passing, and they may be in an isolated place, so they write out their last Will and Testament and then pass away. That's a very different thing than modern times where you have a city around you, and you can go get a Will formalized; you can go have witnesses to a Will and things. Again ultimately, it's going to be a Judge in a sort of probate proceeding - here in Thailand that's not quite the right word for it as our vernacular would use - but again it's similar, the proceedings are similar to what we would call probate in a Common Law vernacular. Again, it's ultimately up to the Judge adjudicating such matters or the Court adjudicating such matters I should say but that being said, as a practical matter, it's not optimal to have a so-called Holographic Will. Again, they are sort of legal in the breach if you will. They are legal because they want to allow for some level of exigent circumstances with regard to people setting their own testamentary instruments. But that being said, as a practical matter, it may not be the best way to go.

Again, depending on your circumstances and how you want to structure your estate, it may not be a terrible idea to contact a legal professional, gain some insight and guidance into how best to proceed.